Is YouTube On The Internets?

OK, so speaking of YouTube:

"I will tell you, I think it's great that everyone is getting into modern technology. It definitely is the wave of the future," said Helaine Goldwater, who has worked on local campaigns since the 1970s, and now works as council candidate Linda Elderkin's campaign manager. "In all honesty, I don't know all that much about it, about YouTube."

This is from Will Bigham's article in the Daily Bulletin about Claremont city council candidate Michael Maglio's recent contribution to YouTube, which this blog pointed out here.

No one points out that the great thing about YouTube is its free. If you already have a video, it is a no-brainer: have your kids spare five minutes and throw it out there. Maglio says he's doing it to pick up some of the college vote, which is nice as far as it goes but college kids jes' don't vote.

...most of the rest of the field said they had never visited the popular video-sharing Web site, and the city's political establishment has since been buzzing about what some consider the dubious merits of the online strategy.

"That's not Claremont," Mayor Peter Yao said. "Most people don't use Web sites for local elections, I've found."

At present, Mayor Yao is right, in the grand scheme of things. But times are a' changin', regardless of what the bored fuddy-duddys of Claremonster politics think or do. The internet is becoming increasingly localized; I would argue that local blogging in particular is the way of the future.

More important for Claremont, older people who do vote are increasingly online. This "recent national survey of older Americans by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that less than a third (31%) of senior citizens (age 65 and older) have ever gone online, but that more than two-thirds (70%) of the next generation of seniors (50-64 year-olds) have done so." Another recent, highly publicized survey of British retirees found that browsing the Internet has become their favorite past time. It won't be long before you will simply have to have an online presence in, yes, even local politics.

At present, mostly just the types of people political scientists call "elite opinion makers" are checking out blogs for information. You know, nothing important. And some gadflies a' buzzin.' You know, nothing amusing.

Anyhow, before we all fly into the wall of the future, look up and check out the Claremont Insider.